Brown’s Matt Sullivan Receives Prestigious Honor

Brown University senior guard Matt Sullivan has had an outstanding career on the hardwood for the Bears. Even more impressive than Sullivan's basketball accomplishments are his accomplishments in the classroom. Thursday, Sullivan was one of five division one men's college basketball players honored as a First Team Academic All-American.

Matt Sullivan

Here is the official press release announcing Sullivan's honor:

Senior forward Mason Plumlee of Duke joins Ohio State junior guard Aaron Craft as the only repeat first team selections on the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s Basketball first team. Senior guard Matthew Sullivan of Brown, a third team honoree last year, joins Plumlee and Craft as first team selections. Junior forward Kelly Olynyk of Gonzaga and sophomore center Cody Zeller of Indiana round out the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s Basketball first team.

A nutrition (pre-med) major with a 3.92 G.P.A., Craft has led No. 18 Ohio State to a19-7 record this year. One of 12 finalists for the 2013 Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard, he has been named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s Basketball first team two years in a row. A native of Findlay, Ohio, he received the NCAA Elite 89 Award for the highest G.P.A. at the 2012 NCAA Final Four.

Named as the 2012 Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Craft is the Buckeyes’ career leader in steals and ranks eighth all-time in the Big Ten. He is averaging 9.2 points, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Craft owns the Ohio State record with 15 assists in a game. He also set a school record with 98 steals in a season.

Last year, Craft averaged 8.8 points and 4.6 assists per game while leading the Buckeyes to a 31-8 record and the Final Four.

Craft was named to the 2013 Wooden and Naismith Preseason Top 50 teams this year. The 2011 Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, he was named to the Big Ten’s All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams.

A psychology major with a 3.36 G.P.A., Plumlee has led No. 6 Duke to a 22-3 record and a 9-3 conference mark while averaging 17.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. The leading scorer for the Blue Devils, he is the second-leading scorer and rebounder in the Atlantic Coast Conference. One of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, the Warsaw, Ind. native was named third team All-ACC as a junior. Plumlee is the ACC’s leading rebounder and the second-leading scorer for a Duke team that is 22-3 and ranked No. 6 nationally. He ranks eighth nationally with 14 double-doubles He led Duke to a 27-7 record last season.

An economics major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., Sullivan is averaging 14.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for Brown. A native of Wilmette, Ill., Sullivan leads Brown in scoring. A two-year team captain, he has led Brown to a 9-13 record and a 3-5 mark in the Ivy League. He has connected on 157 career three-pointers, seventh best in Brown basketball history. Sullivan, who has started in 86 of 111 career games played, is chasing 1,000 career points. He needs 46 points with with six games to play.

An accounting major with a 3.53 G.P.A., Olynyk has led No. 3 Gonzaga to a 25-2 record and first place in the West Coast Conference with a 12-0 mark. A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, he is averaging a team high 18.0 points per game with a 6.9 rebounding average. He has scored more than 30 points in a game twice this season. He has been the WCC Player of the Month twice and earned WCC Player of Week twice. Olynyk was a member of the Canadian National Team that competed in the 2010 FIBA World Championships.

A business major with a 3.44 G.P.A., Zeller is the lone sophomore on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s Basketball first team. He entered the season as a consensus Preseason Player of the Year and All-American for Indiana University. A native of Washington, Ind., he is averaging 16.6 points and 8.2 rebounds for the No. 1-ranked Hoosiers who are 21-3 overall and lead the Big Ten with a 12-2 record. He ranks ninth nationally with a .598 field goal percentage and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his career with a 17-point effort at Michigan State. The 2012 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Zeller is a candidate for the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award and the Oscar Robertson Award. The younger brother of Tyler Zeller, the 2011-12 Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year, Zeller is studying at Indiana University’s prestigious Kelley School of Business.

The five members of the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-America® Men’s Basketball Division I first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.65.